Vitaly Kozyrev: Sino-Russian Cooperation in the Changing Security Environment in Asia

Despite an unprecedented advancement in Sino-Russian relations in the recent decade and China's ability to engage Russia, Moscow's new pragmatic diplomacy of strategic divergence in East Asia and its desire to create its own zone of influence in Eurasia as a regional great power complicate substantially the partnership between the two Eurasian giants. The changing regional security environment and an intensified China-US struggle for leadership in the Asia-Pacific compel the Xi Jinping administration to adopt a nuanced and very measured policy in Eurasia, downplaying it's significant economic and political discrepancies with Moscow. These developments may enable Moscow to further advance its own regional initiatives and obtain more levers if needed to curb Beijing's assertive behavior toward its neighbors.